March 10, 2009 County Commission Rejects Land Purchase for a New East High

The meeting was at the Health Department on Main Street. There was no set time--the notice just said that the Education Committee would meet "after" the called county commission meeting was over.

It started as a discussion about a 1.4 Million dollar land purchase for a new East High School.

It ended with 10 commissioners voting "no" and 3 commissioners voting "yes."

After the Education Committee vote was taken yesterday, the school board, Dr. Lynch, and Central Office administrators scooped up the powerpoint presentation and left the building.

Commissioner Joe Swann, chairman of the Education Committee, said to Director of Schools Dale Lynch, "You just heard the door slam on your building program."

Joe Swann, Tommy Massey, and Ricky Bruce voted "yes."

Voting "no" were Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Guy Collins, Herbert Harville, Reece Sexton, Joe Spoone, Doyle Fullington, Paul Lebel, Dennis Alvis, and Dana Wampler. Commissioner Nancy Phillips was absent.

There were discussions about the price of the land, access roads, site preparation costs, increased traffic, safety concerns, renovations vs. new construction, and practice fields for sports.

Joe Spoone said he wanted to see the funding plan for the entire project before any property is purchased.

Well, when you look at the true costs for the entire project, you will see that the $80 Million estimate is just a fraction of the total taxpayer costs.

There is not $80 Million sitting around waiting to be spent on another school building program. The $80 Million has to be borrowed, and that means there are interest costs on top of the actual building costs.

Over a 20-year payout period, an $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $61 Million in interest for a total cost of $141 Million TAX Dollars (principal + interest).

Over a 25-year payout period, that same $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $80 Million in interest for a total cost of $160 Million TAX dollars (principal + interest). [These costs are from a county cost estimate]

Those are sobering figures that should make anyone pause ---but especially so in these uncertain and difficult economic times in Hamblen County and across the nation.

Another sobering figure is the debt still owed by the county (taxpayers) on the previous (1998) $35 Million dollar school building program and $5 Million capital improvement program. The re-payment schedule for that $40 Million debt was set up as interest only payments for the first 8 years or so, meaning that after making "minimum payments" for 8 years or so, the county still owed the same $40 Million that it had borrowed at the start.

March 9, 2009 Official Pow-Wow...the Rest of the Story

In a recent post, I mentioned the rumor going around that at least two elected officials had met with other elected and/or appointed officials to discuss public business in a meeting that neither the public nor the press knew about.


Today at county commission committee meetings, Commissioner Joe Swann admitted that he and Commissioner Ricky Bruce had met with Director of Schools Dale Lynch and others. Joe said it was an unannounced meeting to discuss and prepare the school board's answers to questions about the proposed purchase of land for a new East High.


Joe said he was sorry if he had upset the Tribune by not telling them about the meeting. He said that no votes were taken, and he claimed that the Sunshine Law was not violated because it was just an information-gathering meeting. Ricky said nothing.

Tribune writer Bobbie Young was at the meeting.

March 7, 2009 After Lawsuit Is Filed, Ethics Committee Wants To Correct Its Violation of Tennessee Open Meetings Act

In a previous post, I reported that the Hamblen County Ethics Committee violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (TOMA) by not providing notice to the "public" of its December 15, 2008, "public" meeting.

Commissioner Joe Swann, who is chairman of the Ethics Committee, Commissioner Stancil Ford, a member of the Ethics Committee, and Rusty Cantwell, attorney for the Ethics Committee, were put on notice of this violation during the public comments portion of the January 22 meeting of the Hamblen County Commission.

Fortunately, the TOMA provides a very simple way to fix such a violation--- just "re-do" the meeting with adequate notice to the public and then re-consider and fully deliberate again on the public business in a true public meeting. On January 22, the Ethics Committee was requested to re-do its December 15 meeting with proper notice to the public.

Unfortunately, the Ethics Committee chose to deny the violation and ignored the request to correct the situation. With the Ethics Committee stonewalling and refusing to remedy its violation, the only way left to enforce the Open Meetings Act was for a citizen to file suit against the violators.

After waiting weeks and weeks for the Ethics Committee to do the easy thing, the right thing, the "ethical" thing---call another meeting with proper notice to the public---Gwen Holden filed a citizen's suit against the Ethics Committee and its five members on February 17, 2009. I represent Ms. Holden.

After being served with Ms. Holden's lawsuit, the Ethics Committee rather suddenly decided that a "re-do" meeting sounded pretty good after all. The Ethics Committee "re-do" meeting to correct its violation of the Open Meetings Act is set for Wednesday, March 11, at 4:00 pm in the West Wing Conference Room in the basement of the new portion of the Courthouse.

The March 11 agenda includes review of the disciplinary actions taken by Mayor David Purkey against county employees Paul King and Frank Parker who were indicted for felony theft (Parker and King) and felony misconduct (Parker) in May 2008.

Government at its best. The Ethics Committee violates the law. Refuses to admit that it did anything wrong. Ignores a simple request to fix the violation with a "re-do" meeting. Then, after its bluff is called and a lawsuit is filed, suddenly the Ethics Committee thinks that a "re-do" sounds great after all!

It is ironic that a violation such as this would involve the Ethics Committee.

It is unfortunate that the Ethics Committee, faced with an obvious violation of the Open Meetings Act, got its back up and refused to admit the violation and simply correct it. This could have been taken care of right away--at no-cost to the taxpayers--if the Ethics Committee had said 'oops, we're sorry and we're going to fix this right now with a proper meeting with adequate public notice.'

Now, the Ethics Committee and its members will ask the taxpayers of Hamblen County to pay the legal fees that the Ethics Committee has incurred for a lawsuit that they caused by their refusal to correct their Open Meetings violation at the start.

The good news, however, is that Ethics Chairman Joe Swann and the other members of the Ethics Committee have seen the light ("Sunshine") and are now aware that you really can't have a "public" meeting without letting the public know about it.

Hopefully, other local governmental bodies will also be careful to make sure that the public is informed about their meetings.

The Open Meetings and Open Records Acts are Tennessee's Sunshine Laws and help protect and preserve the public's right to know what the government is doing. Visit the website of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

[3/8/09 Special thanks to Taxing Tennessee for mentioning and linking to this post! Click Taxing Tennessee to see the complete website.]

February 28, 2009 More Official Pow-Wows Without Notice To The Public?

This blog contains my opinion on many issues. I share links to news stories that are reported across the state by various media. And I do some independent local news-gathering, posting information that the local newspaper ignores.

While I am cautious about mentioning things that I hear that have not been verified, there is a rumor going around that there was recently an (unannounced) meeting of a small group of elected and appointed officials who were engaged in important discussions of public business and expenditures.

[NOTE: This meeting may have been held in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. While not all elected or appointed officials are covered by the Sunshine Law, this meeting allegedly included two or more officials who are covered by the Sunshine Law and whose participation in an unannounced meeting to deliberate about public business could rise to a violation of the letter and/or spirit of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. This is not an accusation of a violation because I don't know the specific nature of the discussions nor the identity of all participants.]

The public was not notified of this meeting.

The press apparently was not notified, but we'll have to wait and see if that glitch creates a problem for any of those involved in the meeting.

While the press has never reported when lowly John and Jane Taxpayer are not notified about public meetings, the press just may be ticked when the NEWSPAPER isn't notified!

One solution to solve the dilemma of whether a particular discussion or meeting is a true violation of the Sunshine Law would be to have a public message board for local public officials to use in order to share information with one another---AND THE PUBLIC. Knox County did this after the Knox County Commission was cited for private meetings and deliberations between commissioners. You can also reach the Knox County website here and then click on Commission Forum to see the public message board.

We are approaching the annual celebration of Sunshine Week in Tennessee. And the Citizen-Tribune, as it has always done, will have a wonderful editorial extolling the virtues of Tennessee's Open Meetings and Open Records Acts ("Sunshine" laws).

And at the same time, the Citizen-Tribune knows that there are unannounced meetings taking place in Hamblen County where important discussions and/or deliberations about the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars are taking place in the dark.

You can't have a "public" meeting without adequate notice to the public!

Wouldn't it be refreshing if the Tribune did more than write an editorial once-a-year about how important the Sunshine Laws are?

February 21, 2009 Maybe, Just Maybe, the 2009-2010 Hamblen County Budget Will Be On-Line This Year

During the visitor's comments portion of the Hamblen County Commission meeting on February 19, 2009, I again asked that Hamblen County budget documents be made accessible to the public on the Hamblen County website.

I've been pushing for this from the time I served on commission in 2002-2006 and afterward. This time, there was a mini-breakthrough and a glimmer of sunshine.

Commissioner Nancy Phillips turned to Chairman Stancil Ford and stated she thought that the proposal was a good idea. She asked that the request be placed on the agenda for March committee meetings.

[While I was serving on Commission, Commissioner Phillips and I along with several others pushed to get a Hamblen Government website up and running. She and I also led the push for televising commission meetings. She has a track record of being a proponent of open government.]

After the meeting, Commissioner Tommy Massey came over and said that he, too, thinks this is a good idea. I asked him to please support this when it comes up in committee meetings.

Thank you, Commissioner Phillips, for getting this placed in committee for consideration. Thank you, Commissioner Massey, for expressing your support.

Sharing detailed information with taxpayers about how their taxes have been and are being spent should be a no-brainer. And making information like this available on the government website is a simple process of feeding papers into a scanner and then posting it.

It's time to open up and expand the local government-to-taxpayer information pipeline. As Larry says, when he's not working on cable repairs, Git 'r done!

February 10, 2009 Ethics Committee Violates the Sunshine Law--No Notice to the Public of its December 15 "Public" Meeting

Oops, they did it again--another county government meeting without notice to the public.

THEN: The Commission held a special meeting in May 2007 to appoint the Ethics Committee and did not provide public notice of the meeting. See my post here and the opinion of the county attorney that informing the press about a meeting meets the requirements of "adequate public notice"---even when the press doesn't mention the meeting to the public.

NOW: The Ethics Committee, which rarely meets, has held a special meeting (December 2008) without providing public notice of the meeting. What irony! The Ethics Committee is appointed in a meeting without notice to the public--- and then the Ethics Committee itself meets without notice to the public.

Tennessee's Open Meetings Act (TOMA) is one of our Sunshine Laws. The purpose of TOMA is to make sure that the public's business takes place in the "sunshine" with "adequate public notice" of any meetings.

Tennessee Code 8-44-103 requires Notice of public meetings. —

(a) Notice of Regular Meetings. Any such governmental body which holds a meeting previously scheduled by statute, ordinance, or resolution shall give adequate public notice of such meeting.

(b) Notice of Special Meetings. Any such governmental body which holds a meeting not previously scheduled by statute, ordinance, or resolution, or for which notice is not already provided by law, shall give adequate public notice of such meeting.

(c) The notice requirements of this part are in addition to, and not in substitution of, any other notice required by law.

Notice of the special December 15 Ethics Committee meeting was provided to a limited number of people---Ethics Committee members, commissioners, the county attorney, and the press but these were the only people who were notified.

So there's not really a question of whether there was adequate notice to the public. There was NO notice to the public.

[And strangely, the notice that was provided to the press and to the Ethics Committee didn't even mention why there was a special meeting or what it was about.]

As it turned out from reports after the meeting, the Committee considered the "resign or be ousted" letter sent by Mayor David Purkey to then-Constable Paul King, discussed and got county attorney Rusty Cantwell's opinion on the actions taken by Purkey in regard to Paul King and Frank Parker, and then took a vote supporting the "resign or be ousted" letter.

The Parker-King saga at Cherokee Park is a lengthy one of theft, lies, pre-trial diversion, and plea deals, culminating in both keeping their county jobs but with demotions and/or transfers. Of course, it was their boss County Mayor David Purkey who made the decision to keep them on the county payroll and he just happened to be the #1 character reference for both men.

But I digress. Back to the Sunshine Law.

At the January 22 meeting of the full Commission, I spoke to the county attorney before the meeting to point out that there was no notice to the public of the December 15 Ethics meeting. The county attorney repeated his previous opinion that notifying the press is all the county must do. In other words, we tell the press and if the press doesn't pass the word along to the public, then too bad, so sad.

During the visitor's comments portion of the commission meeting, I spoke to the full commission about the apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act, pointing out that the law requires "adequate public notice" and that this is the second meeting that I know of where a limited number of people are notified, but there is NO notice to the public at all.

Actions taken at a meeting in violation of the Sunshine Law may be declared void, but there is a very easy way to correct the violation, and that's what I asked the Ethics Committee to do. Hold a new meeting--with notice to the public and with full deliberation and re-consideration of the actions taken. Problem solved.

After two weeks passed and the commission had not responded to my request for a re-do of the Ethics Committee meeting, I contacted Chairman Stancil Ford to see what, if anything, the county intended to do. Ford stated that he had talked with the county attorney and that the county attorney continues to maintain that notifying the press is all the law requires. Ford suggested that I call the chairman of the Ethics Committee Joe Swann, which I did, and discuss my concerns with Joe.

Joe Swann told me that he had also talked with the county attorney. Swann informed me that the county attorney maintains that there is no violation of the open meetings act and that notice to the press meets the requirements of the law. He was firm in stating that there would be no re-do of the meeting.

I shared with him that it is my opinion that at least two "public" meetings of county government have been held without any notification to the "public." While I fully agreed that there has been "adequate press notice," I believe that the law clearly and in plain words requires "adequate public notice."

In the two instances mentioned, no one has to spend much time bickering over whether "adequate" notice to the public was given, because there was NO public notice at all. Let the Sunshine in.

February 10, 2009 Morristown Utility System Customers Pay For Computer Screens for Hamblen County Commissioners

Hamblen County Commission met Thursday, January 22, and there was something new in front of each of the fourteen commissioners....fourteen lovely new computer monitors.

Where did the lovely new monitors come from?

At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Stancil Ford informed the commissioners that the new monitors were given to commission by Morristown Utility System (MUS). Ford added that this lovely "gift" didn't cost the taxpayers a dime.

So were the computer screens really free? NO. Manna from Heaven? NO.

As Paul Harvey would say, it's time for the rest of the story.

Ford said MUS "gave" computer monitors to county commissioners. Well, where in the world did MUS get the money to "give" computer monitors to county commissioners?

From the thousands of MUS water and electric customers who---whether they knew it or not, whether they wanted it included in their utility bill or not--paid for water, electricity, and computer monitors for county commissioners when paying their monthly water and skyrocketing electricity bills.

Surely, Mr. Ford knows that the screens were not free.

Of course, politicians love to talk about "free" grants, "free" dollars from the federal government, "free" dollars from the state government, "free" gifts from one governmental-type entity (like MUS) to another governmental entity (Hamblen County Commission), and "free" gifts from companies, banks, and others who frequently do business with the government.

Most of the "free" grants, dollars, and gifts are not really free at all. They are simply grants, dollars, and gifts that have been paid for by one set of taxpayers or utility customers and are then transferred from one level of government to another with a new name--"grant" or "gift."

And almost all of these "freebies"--whether public or private--come with payback and strings, visible or invisible, attached.

January 13, 2009 Brett Kilgore: Off and Running for Sheriff in 2010

Brett Kilgore, who resigned a few months ago from the Hamblen County Civil Service Board, is off and running for Sheriff.

Even though the primary is over 15 months away, Kilgore has already printed, paid for, and handed out election brochures. (Click on the images to enlarge)

In 2006, Kilgore paid for an ad in which he endorsed former Sheriff Otto Purkey. Otto Purkey lost to current Sheriff Esco Jarnagin in 2006, and Kilgore was subsequently appointed to the Civil Service Board by Otto Purkey's brother, County Mayor David Purkey.

That appointment eventually led to a confrontation between Kilgore and current Sheriff Esco Jarnagin when Kilgore, along with fellow Civil Service Board Member Joel Seal, voted to order Sheriff Jarnagin to promote and put Lynn Wolfe, a relative of David and Otto Purkey, back on the road as a deputy.

Jarnagin refused, noting that Lynn is best-known for totaling a 1999 county cruiser in December of 2000 while returning from an out-of-town party. Newspaper reports at the time stated that Wolfe's blood alcohol content was more than twice the standard for drunk driving. Click here for background on the civil service board ruling and the appeal.

Wolfe was Otto Purkey's chief deputy at the time of the wreck and resigned after he was given a severance package by David Purkey.

The county sued Wolfe to recover the cost of the vehicle. An agreement was reached providing that Lynn Wolfe would make restitution to the county for $6,250 by performing community service. And who would Lynn Wolfe perform his community service for? His father Harold Wolfe, of course!

Harold Wolfe was head of the county's maintenance department. David Purkey saw the obvious conflict in son (Lynn Wolfe) working off restitution by working for father (Harold Wolfe). David sent a memo to Harold telling Harold that, if anyone gets nosy and asks, just tell that that Gary Templin is supervising Lynn.

In "working" for his father's maintenance department, Lynn turned in three timeless timesheets to his kinfolk David Purkey, and Purkey accepted and filed the timeless timesheets in Wolfe's personnel file. Lynn's supervisor Gary Templin had actually signed off on two of the timeless sheets, and Lynn turned in the third one without any supervisor's signature at all.

Lynn resigned in 2001, so how did he end up back at the Sheriff's Department again? After a few years went by, his kinfolk Otto Purkey, who was still Sheriff, hired Lynn back as a jailer.

Esco Jarnagin defeated Otto in 2006, and when Lynn tried to get promoted to road deputy, Esco
refused to sign a waiver that could have put Lynn back on the road again in a county vehicle. Lynn then filed a federal lawsuit against Jarnagin.

Details and documents regarding the Wolfe saga: the wreck, the civil service board, and the lawsuit are here.

Brett Kilgore is off and running, and we'll have more info in future posts.

January 10, 2009 Claiborne County Fairgrounds: Site of Deer Shooting by Claiborne Sheriff David Ray

Sheriff David Ray of Claiborne County was recently cited for shooting a deer without a license on the Claiborne County fairgrounds (shown above).

Where was the deer? And where did Sheriff Ray allegedly park, get his gun, get out of the car, and take the shot? And what about his friend who also nailed a deer at the fairgrounds?

The original News-Sentinel story is here. A previous blog post is here.

The Claiborne County Fairgrounds is located on Straight Creek Road and is shown above in pictures taken from various angles. Click on each picture to enlarge.

A large part of the fairgrounds is fenced in, and currently the entrance gate off of Straight Creek Road is closed. The gate can be seen in the distance in one of the pictures along with houses that are nearby.

On one side of the road, you have an industry, the fairgrounds, and then housing.

On the other side of the road are the Claiborne County Justice Center and Powell Valley Electric.

The Sheriff first took the Fifth Amendment when questioned about the incident. Then he got a lawyer, admitted to shooting the deer, and said that he didn't have a hunting license because he usually hunted on his own land where a license isn't required.

OK---then that would mean that the Sheriff KNEW that a license IS required to hunt on land that you don't own and he KNEW from the very start that he had broken the law.

After shooting the deer, Sheriff Ray had a friend take the deer to be tagged. Why? Because he KNEW that he had broken the law and that he couldn't take the deer in. Solution: Ask someone who has a hunting license to lie and claim the deer as his own so Ray, the illegal hunter, could get away with breaking the law.

When all this was exposed, the Sheriff explained that he shot the deer as part of his service to the county because he was going to use the deer to "feed the inmates." Neat. The Sheriff took an illegal pot-shot on public property, had a friend to lie and help cover it up by having the friend take the deer to be tagged, and it was all part of his glorious service to Claiborne County!

[Sheriff Ray was assigned to community service at some undisclosed location in Hamblen County as part of a pre-trial diversion agreement that he signed in September 2008 after he was indicted on charges of statutory rape and rape by an authority figure.

Apparently, a decision has not been made as to whether this latest incident will result in revocation of the pre-trial diversion agreement signed in the prior case.]

January 4, 2009 Open Government in Hamblen County: It's Time

The Florida Attorney General is encouraging government offices to put public information on government websites. Click here for info on the Taxing Tennessee website.

In Attorney General Bill McCollum's words: "As we head into 2009, I'm asking our leaders to recognize that with advances in technology, government in the sunshine can be as easy as uploading information to public websites. Merely responding to requests is no longer sufficient in light of the technological advances which make it infinitely easier, cheaper and more efficient to do so."

Hamblen County could use some of that sunshine, too!

Hamblen County established a website after a few of the newly-elected "2002" commissioners started pushing to set one up. Supposedly a website had been discussed previously but never got off the ground.

Commissioner Nancy Phillips and I really wanted to make a Hamblen County Government website a reality. Committee meetings were held. After taking bids from companies who set up websites, a Hamblen County Government website was established.

The website started with contact information for officials and departments. Gradually, bid information and the county employee handbook were posted, and the county clerk started posting minutes of county commission meetings several months ago.

But, like the Florida AG and many others have noted, there is a whole lot of public information that can and should be posted on a government website.

Even though I chose not to run for re-election to commission in 2006, I was and still am interested in opening up government information to the public. During the last budget deliberations in which I participated (06-07 budget), I asked Trustee Bill Brittain--who handles a lot of the techie stuff for the county--about putting the proposed 06-07 county budget online.

The response was that it would just be too difficult and time-consuming.

It's really not that hard. Large numbers of documents--much larger than the Hamblen County budget--can be fed into a scanner and posted on a website with relative ease. An employee could take care of this, or a high school student with an interest in government and technology could handle the project while gaining valuable experience.

All the commission needs is the political will to say "git 'r done."

About a year ago, I again asked the commission to put the budget online. No response. I talked to Chairman Stancil Ford who told me that the commission was "moving" toward that. Well, now's the time to "git 'r done."

Two years ago, I asked for agendas and minutes of committee meetings to be posted on the county website. Shortly afterward, the agenda and minutes of one meeting (January 2007) were posted. After that, agendas only were posted through June 2008. Then after June 2008, not even agendas were posted! See Finance Committee link here. [Hopefully, someone will go back and post the missing agendas and minutes, but as of 1/3/09, the Finance and other Committees show their January 2007 agenda and minutes and then agendas only are available through June 2008.]

After several years now, it's time to put the upcoming (09-10) county budget, agenda and minutes of all committee meetings, the videotapes of previous and current county commission meetings, and much more on the Hamblen County website!

Finance Committee, Public Service Committee, and other meetings are extremely important because that's where the discussion, if there is any, occurs. Unfortunately, commission insists on holding committee meetings at 11:30 am (on the 2nd Monday of each month) pretty much shutting out attendance by the working man or woman.

I along with several others have asked for committee meetings to be held at a time when the working taxpayer can attend. These requests have fallen on deaf ears. If the commissioners continue to insist on holding committee meetings and having important discussions about public business at times (11:30 am) when working citizens and taxpayers can't attend, then they should tape and televise those meetings on the government-ed channels, archiving the tapes and also making them available for viewing at any time on the Hamblen County website.

NOTE: Currently, the monthly commission meetings are taped and shown on the gov/ed channels on Tuesday and Saturday evenings at 9:00 pm. The new tapes and old archived tapes of the full commission meetings should also be posted and made available for viewing at any time on the Hamblen County website.

The Florida AG summed up his proposal with this statement: "Open government is not only good government; it is the right of the tax-paying public."

Let's git 'r done!

January 3, 2009 Additional Gasoline Taxes "By the Mile"

Do you drive or have you thought about purchasing a car that gets good gas mileage for economic reasons? Do you drive or have you thought about purchasing a hybrid vehicle for gas mileage and environmental reasons?

How would you like to pay a "mileage" tax that would take away your gas and gas tax savings?

Oregon has placed GPS monitors on 300 vehicles in a pilot program to track the mileage and let the owner pay a "mileage" tax at the gas pumps. Congress is looking at "mileage" taxes, too, in addition to gas tax increases being discussed by the incoming administration as part of a $1 TRILLION DOLLAR stimulus package!

Why the mileage tax?

Click here for the full Memphis Commercial Appeal (AP) story.

Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use, even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles.

The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes.

For years, the federal government demanded that automakers build cars that got more miles per gallon. The government wanted consumers to use fuel-efficient cars and even offered tax rebates to purchasers of gas/electric hybrids. Now that many consumers--for environmental or economic reasons or both--have opted for the better mileage vehicles, the state and federal governments are looking at a "mileage" tax to replace and/or supplement the current per gallon tax.

And for those concerned about privacy issues, the Oregon task force has "assured people that the program does not track detailed movement and that driving history is not stored and cannot be accessed by law enforcement agencies." Does anyone want to take a bet that the information is not stored and can not be accessed by law enforcement or possibly others?

Ben Franklin said: In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Hey Ben, here's another (almost) certainty. Death by taxation!

January 1, 2009 Claiborne Sheriff David Ray Takes Fifth Amendment, then Admits to Shooting a Deer Without a License "For the Inmates"

In the continuing saga of Claiborne Sheriff David Ray, Ray now faces misdemeanor charges of hunting without a license after pulling off the road, getting out of his vehicle, and shooting a deer that was walking along an open area of the Claiborne County fairgrounds. News-Sentinel article is here.

[For a more complete background on David Ray, click on the links below. Ray was indicted for statutory rape and rape by an authority figure for an incident or incidents that allegedly occurred in Hancock County in November 2005 and November 2006.

He did not go to trial on those charges. Instead, he was granted pre-trial diversion in September 2008 by DA Berkeley Bell. As part of the diversion agreement, Ray was assigned to 250 hours of community service at some unknown location in lovely Hamblen County.

Click here for a prior post and links to other information. To see the terms of Ray's pre-trial diversion agreement and the community service in Hamblen County, click here. As part of the pre-trial agreement, Ray was "not [to] commit any offenses" during the 2-year probation period. Ray also agreed to "report all arrests, including traffic violations, regardless of disposition, to his Probation Counselor."]

According to the News-Sentinel story, Ray was driving by the Claiborne County fairgrounds when he spotted deer walking on the fairgrounds. Ray apparently pulled over, got out a gun, and shot one of the deer. One of his friends shot another deer. Neither Ray nor his friend had a hunting license.

The TWRA cited Ray for hunting without a license. Ray took the Fifth Amendment when he was initially questioned about the incident. Then he lawyered up and admitted to "poor judgment" in the shooting but claimed it was for the good of the county because it was to get food "for the inmates."

One of the commenters on the News-Sentinel website added that the good Sheriff should go down the road and pick up free roadkill for the inmates to add to the fresh venison that the sheriff is always on the lookout for! Others are noting that the "average" unlicensed hunter is charged with multiple offenses in similar incidents with lots of fines and often confiscations.

What will happen here? Well, this is how the DA described the shooting: "These deer were shot on an open area of the fairgrounds. The area was not posted as a no hunting area."

Yep, and I'm sure there are many other "open areas" at the fairgrounds and on school property and on other public and private property in Claiborne County. Is there no common sense here?

Do "no hunting" signs really need to be posted on fairground property, justice center property, and public parks so THE SHERIFF will know that you don't pull out your gun and start hunting in those places?

I hope the DA didn't really mean that it's not very serious ("just like a speeding ticket") or dangerous if someone sees a deer and pulls over and starts shooting at a deer walking on public property---and at a fairground no less.

I also hope that no young children were walking near the fairground or witnessed the shootings from a passing car.

Maybe Claiborne County needs to post a sign on its fairground and other public property: "Beware of Unlicensed Deer Hunters and the Claiborne County Sheriff Seeking Venison for Inmates."

This would at least warn everybody that those areas are fair game (pun intended) for unlicensed deer hunters and the good Sheriff.

January 1, 2009 Happy New Year!!

Auld Lang Syne to 2008.

Welcome to 2009!

Happy New Year to all!

December 31, 2008 County Issues a "Cease and Desist" Order

The County Commission met with the County Planning Commission on Monday, December 29. The hot item, as it has been for several months, was outdoor shooting ranges and establishing regulations to limit where in the county they can be located.

The Planning Commission has received many complaints about noise and about individuals and groups shooting various size guns close to a nearby east-end subdivision.

According to a source, it is my understanding that the Planning Commission had the county attorney prepare a "cease and desist" order that has been served on the individuals who own the property where the shooting is taking place.

Even though the meeting was on Monday morning, there was nothing in the Tribune on Tuesday. My guess is that this will be reported in the newspaper on Wednesday (today) or at least on Thursday.

[NOTE: I just received a comment from "Happy" on this post. Happy, I will be glad to post your comment if I can verify your name. I have a policy of not posting anonymous comments due to profane and crude comments that have made at various times by "anonymous" individuals who don't have the courage or the facts to stand behind what they say. While your post does not fit in this category, the policy applies to all remarks--whether they contain praise, criticism, or just general commentary. If you will call me at 586-9246 or send another comment giving your name and phone #, I will verify the information and then publish your comment. Thanks for reading!]

December 30, 2008 Parker and King Demoted but Keep County Jobs. King Resigns Constable Position Effective December 31

Hamblen County Constable Paul King has resigned as Constable with an effective date of December 31. His resignation letter (above left) is dated December 9 and is addressed To Whom It May Concern. The "December 9" resignation letter was not turned in until December 16.

King's resignation had first been requested by County Mayor David Purkey in a December 5th letter to King (above). When the County Mayor received no response from King, the Hamblen County Ethics Committee met on December 15 and backed up the request for King's resignation. Apparently, the next day (December 16), King turned in his "December 9" resignation letter to Wanda Neal, Administrator of Elections, and she faxed it to county attorney Rusty Cantwell.

King was manager of Cherokee Park when he and his boss (Cherokee Park Director Frank Parker) were indicted in May 2008 by a Hamblen County grand jury for theft over $500 for charging Albert Walker $750 to get Walker's car out of the Sheriff's impound lot when both knew that no money was due to remove the car. [Parker was also indicted for felony official misconduct].

King's boss and Co-Defendant Frank Parker requested and was granted pre-trial diversion on theft and official misconduct charges by District Attorney Berkeley Bell in July 2008. (click to view previous post)

Parker, who had previously resigned his county commission position, was stripped of his deputy sheriff status by Sheriff Esco Jarnagin. (click to view previous post)

King applied for diversion but was ineligible due to a prior offense. King pled guilty to a lesser-charge (theft under $500) in Hamblen County Criminal Court on November 21, 2008. (click to view previous post)

On December 5, County Mayor David Purkey sent a disciplinary letter to each man. (Click on images above to enlarge and read).

Frank Parker was demoted from Director of Cherokee Park to Maintenance Technician and was "suspended without pay for multiple three (3) day periods encompassing the month of February."

Paul King was demoted to Sanitation Worker, suspended without pay for multiple 3-day periods encompassing the month of January, and "transferred to an undetermined county department effective February 1, 2009." County Mayor Purkey also requested King's resignation as constable to avoid ouster proceedings.

On December 16, King finally turned in his resignation letter to Wanda Neal.

December 25, 2008 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas To All!
Click on the song title below for the lyrics and music to many wonderful Christmas songs.


Do You Hear What I Hear?


Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?

A star, a star, dancing in the night,
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?

A song, a song, high above the trees,
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king, do you know what I know?

A Child, a Child shivers in the cold,
Let us bring Him silver and gold,
Let us bring Him silver and gold.

Said the king to the people everywhere, listen to what I say.
Pray for peace, people everywhere! listen to what I say.

The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light.
He will bring us goodness and light.

November 22, 2008 Cherokee Park Manager/Constable King, Ineligible for Diversion, Pleas Guilty to Theft

In a surprising twist, Cherokee Park Manager/Constable Paul King pled guilty to a reduced charge of theft under $500 on Friday, November 21, in Hamblen County Criminal Court. He was ordered to pay $375 in restitution to Albert Walker, victim of the theft. He was also sentenced to 10 days in jail.

King and his boss, Cherokee Park Director Frank Parker, were both indicted for theft over $500 in May 2008 for taking $750 from Albert Walker in order to get Walker's car out of the sheriff's impound lot when both of them knew--but did not tell Walker--that there was no charge to get the car out.

In addition, Parker was charged with felony official misconduct because he used his official position as a county commissioner in order to get sheriff's department personnel to release Walker's car into his (Parker's) custody.

Frank Parker applied for and was granted pre-trial diversion on both charges. A little slap on the wrist, a little restitution, and Frank is back at Cherokee Park drawing that nice county paycheck and benefits.

King then applied for pre-trial diversion.

On Page 5 of King's Initial Application for Pre-Trial, Diversion (above left), King stated that the theft charge was his first offense and that he had never previously been "detained...arrested...or summoned into court as a defendant...."

A TBI pre-trial diversion report (above right) gave King a pass and indicated that the TBI database did NOT have a record of any prior conviction or expungement for King.

So what happened? It would appear that someone knew about and came forward with additional information about King's prior record and expungement---information that for some reason wasn't in the TBI database. That additional information apparently de-railed King's diversion express.

November 16, 2008 Paul King's Request for Diversion on Theft Charges (Part II)

Constable and Cherokee Park Manager Paul King's Request for Diversion in connection with charges of theft will be heard next week in Hamblen County Criminal Court.

The page (near right) is part of King's initial application for diversion.

On this page, King explains how he and his boss (Cherokee Park Director Frank Parker) took $750 from Albert Walker by leading Walker to believe that the $750 being paid to King and Parker was an impound fee that was to be paid to the Hamblen County Sheriff.

As King and Parker knew at the time, there was no impound charge by the Sheriff--which is why King adds that he knew all along that what he and Frank Parker were doing was wrong.

The page (far right) is one of the letters of commendation included with King's request for diversion. The letter is from long-time and current Hamblen County School Board member Roger Greene.

To see King's 4-page Request for Diversion with a fuller explanation and additional links, click here.

November 16, 2008 Constable/Cherokee Park Manager Paul King's Diversion Hearing on Theft Charges Postponed To Next Week (Part I)

Paul King, Hamblen County Constable and Cherokee Park Manager, will have to wait until next week before his request for pre-trial diversion (above) is presented to Judge John Dugger. [Click on each image to read. The 4-page document will be in correct sequence for most browsers]

King and his boss---Cherokee Park Director, former deputy Sheriff and former Hamblen County Commissioner Frank Parker---were indicted in May 2008 for felony theft over $500.

The pair--both of whom are county employees, both of whom had law enforcement connections at the time of the theft, and both of whom were elected officials at the time of the theft--took $750 from Albert Walker to get Walker's car out of the Hamblen County Sheriff's impound lot.

Both Parker and King knew that there was no charge at all to get Walker's car out of impound, but both admit that they did not let Walker know that his car could be retrieved for nothing. After taking the $750 from Walker, Parker and King were charged with theft by deception.

Parker was also charged with felony misconduct for using his position as a county commissioner to get the car out of the impound lot.

Parker resigned his position as a county commissioner in June 2008 and immediately applied for pre-trial diversion. District Attorney Berkeley Bell recommended diversion for Parker, and Parker's diversion was signed by Judge John Dugger in early July 2008.

Subsequently, Sheriff Esco Jarnagin stripped Parker of his deputy status.

Apparently, County Mayor David Purkey, the County Commission, and the County Ethics Committee aren't saying much of anything regarding Parker and Cherokee Park. It's not clear whether Parker has resumed the title of "Director" and is allowed to handle money again. It's also not clear whether Parker is again drawing approximately $38,000 in salary plus full benefits or whether he continued to draw his full salary all along. Parker is still listed as Cherokee Park Director on the Hamblen County government website.

King, Parker's Co-Defendant, applied for diversion in August 2008. His diversion was scheduled to be heard this past Friday, November 14. During Friday's 1:00 session of court, however, Judge Dugger announced that King's attorney was unable to attend the hearing and that the diversion would be presented next week. King apparently continues to be employed by the county as Manager of Cherokee Park.

In addition to King's request for pre-trial diversion (shown above), a page from King's initial application for diversion and one of King's letters of commendation--from current and long-time Hamblen County School Board member Roger Greene--can be seen here.

In a nutshell, pre-trial diversion means that there is no trial. The defendant tells his version of what happened, explains that he is sorry and that this was a one-time thing, and is typically required to make restitution. The District Attorney can approve the request or reject it for any number of reasons. If the diversion is granted, the defendant is allowed to go free with the charges wiped off completely if the Defendant is not charged with anything else during the brief probationary period.

Frank Parker's request for pre-trial diversion will be posted soon. It is a particularly interesting document in which Parker accepts "criminal responsibility" for his actions and then turns right around and blames the Victim for "pestering" Parker into committing theft. Parker's "he pestered me into it" sounds a lot like comedian Flip Wilson's old "the Devil made me do it" tag line from the 1970s.

More to come....

November 11, 2008 Veterans Day

In honor and in remembrance of all who have served the United States of America in the armed forces at home and abroad...

In honor of all who currently serve the United States of America in the armed forces at home and abroad...

In remembrance of all who, in service to the United States of America, gave the last full measure of devotion...